GANGNEUNG — A pursuit team is a fleet, fluid, three-headed beast, and the best of them meld personalities as much as they do arms, legs and abilities.

The Canadian women’s team has figured it out for the run-up to these Olympics. Two bronze medals on the speed skating World Cup circuit prove it, so their timing is also good.

All season they have been able to give and take constructive criticism, and that’s not always an easy exchange between elite athletes. It can, in fact, send a team reeling. But these women built trust and friendships as they built a training base at the Olympic oval in Calgary. Coach Marcel Lacroix, re-hired in June to take over the team from Xiuli Wang, also deserves some credit for fostering a positive dynamic.

“We worked really hard at it,” acknowledged team leader Ivanie Blondin said. “Having Marcel as coach has made a world of difference, and the mentality of our team is what a team pursuit should be. It really feels like we’re a team now and not just skaters being put together for the team pursuit.

“It’s nice to have the trust we have in the group. Before, I feel the trust just wasn’t there. Just coming from different coaches and different mindsets. We have come a really, really long way in the past couple months and it’s brought us great success.”

A fracture in the team dynamic, be it a clash of alpha personalities or a corps of bruised egos, can reap the exact opposite.

“Oh, for sure. And I feel we have been there before, and I have experienced that before,” Josie Morrison said. “But this team, right now, that is not what we’re experiencing. I think it’s all positive and it’s all just moving forward. Anything is possible with this team.”

At these Olympics, a medal is certainly possible, though they are essentially ceding gold to the Japanese and silver to the Dutch, and will fight the Germans and Chinese for bronze.

In the women’s pursuit, two teams of three skaters start on opposite sides of the oval. The race is won when all three skaters for one country cross the finish line after six laps or pass all three of the other team’s skaters.

Canada’s three skaters for the quarter-finals on Feb. 19 will come from the ranks of Blondin, Josie Morrison, Keri Morrison and Isabelle Weidemann. Kali Christ isn’t scheduled to compete here, though she is a team member. That’s a tough pill, but she took one, with no small measure of class and resolve, for the team.

“We’re all kind of just getting along,” she said. “Even if we can only have four people racing with a team of five here, there are honestly no hard feelings from me. I’m the one left out. There’s no hard feelings. I am so happy to be a part of this team and to just be even considered after the past couple of years I’ve had is amazing to me.”

Kali Christ celebrates a race win in 2015 (POSTMEDIA)

Christ has bounced back from injury to put herself in the mix. They’re all happy for her, and proud of the way she took the devastating news. This really is more than a team. They look like a tight group of friends. And they trust one another with what could be the pinnacle of their sporting careers. That’s key.

“Team pursuit is all about trust,” said Josie Morrison. “When you’re out there, pulling your hardest laps and feeling it in your legs, you’re trusting that the people behind you are behind you and they’ll push you if you need a push. Or if someone is struggling behind they will let you know.”

It sounds simple, but communication is vital. So too the synchronization of the movements of all three skaters.

“We’ve been focusing a lot on synchronicity and working together and just following each other to the T,” said Keri Morrison. “That means whoever is in front has the lead and everyone else has the trust to follow and that’s what makes the best team. Not one person is the best. The whole team needs to perform as their best to do their best.”

Sure. And somebody has to lead. That’s Blondin.

“You watch. She’ll lead the team out and she finishes us off, so we all stick together in there. She’s the glue,” said Weidemann.

Blondin smiles, knowing the responsibility of leadership comes with tenure and age. She wondered openly about the team dynamic early in the season, but has been pleasantly surprised to find that there has been joy not only in the results, but in their pursuit.

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